Dubai: The American University in Dubai (AUD) and TOUGHLOVE Advisors have announced a new collaboration that aims to bridge the gap between industry experience and academia. Through extensive advisory services across multiple subjects – ranging from marketing communications and business innovation to business operations, strategy and management – students and the faculty, will receive vital real-life perspectives alongside curriculum material.
Together with the lectures taught by the AUD faculty, TOUGHLOVE’s senior advisory board – comprising nine C-suite executives with more than 250 years of combined hands-on experience – will offer their expertise via guest speaker opportunities, roundtable discussions, hands-on mentoring and training programs, and internship and networking opportunities for current students, while also providing institutional support to the wider AUD faculty.
AUD has been responsible for developing many of today’s business leaders and entrepreneurs in the UAE. With the University’s impressive graduate employability rate, a collaboration of this nature makes them the perfect match for adding the ‘real life ready’ component to help further prepare students for tomorrow’s workforce.
The new collaboration is part of TOUGHLOVE’s larger commitment of giving back to the community at large, by fostering talent in the UAE and preparing today’s youth for the next steps through specific subject matter content discussions, talks, and on-project training, ensuring students get the right exposure.
Eddie Maalouf, Partner, TOUGHLOVE Advisors and AUD Alumni said: “We at TOUGHLOVE Advisors are honored and excited about the opportunity to bring our decades of experience and learning to the students and curriculum at AUD in the hope of getting them life ready. We are equally excited about the prospect of learning from the AUD students and their programs, gaining access to fresh and innovative business thinking and talent, while positively contributing to the students and administration at AUD.”
Dr. David Schmidt, President, American University in Dubai said: “We are so pleased to initiate this collaboration as it is indicative of another one of the advantages that AUD provides students in preparing them for tomorrow and beyond.”
